Returning Player seeking help choosing a class (Mesmer and Thief)

[Crymsyn.5037]

I had some issues that kept me away from the game for a while (Grandfather's health, erm my mental health, constant power outages, and new internet.) And just recently (IE reinstalled last night) came back! Now I'm having trouble choosing between two classes Thief and Mesmer....I will state years ago I played mesmer a lot with Necro in GW1 so I have a soft spot already for mesmer....I like thief mostly for the Daredevil elite spec....As I've always always loved Martial Arts/Monk themed classes (DnD or Non GW themed monk boy that was confusing when I first tried gw1 ha ha.) I'm not big on pvp I may throw my hat in the ring now and then but its not a HUGE draw for me just something I do time to time...I prefer mostly PVE stuff and due to Agoraphobia and anxiety issues mostly do solo things but have been trying lately in games like this to be more social. So basically I'd be soloing/doing PVE/and Dabbling here and there with pvp (I'm not overly competititve so pvp is more a dabble for me than anything major.) Thank you in advance!

[SlayerXX.7138]

Both classes suffer for similar reason in PvP, which makes them not really beginner friendly professions. Mesmer is good in a one vs one. So you would probably be often be in a Situation where you end up getting +1 by your opponent, with escape being unlikely.

Powercreep is high enough you can solo almost anything, even things that weren't intended to be soloed, with the right build and gear. Mesmer should have a higher celling for what you can solo, but that's only relevant if you want solo stuff that was designed for a group of people.

Daredevil is fun and easily handles all solo content you will come across, quite fast mind you. Physical Aoe damage speeds up things quit a bit.

If you value Endgame group content a lot, Mesmer could be better as Mesmer's has an easy and strong endgame build with virtuoso. Which is a quite un-Mesmer like Elite Spec so it depends how you value that.

I would suggest thief, but I'm playing thief so take that with a grain of salt.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Albi.7250

[Gwynnion.7364]

Daredevil is pretty great for the martial arts aesthetic and is probably still the best all-around thief spec at the moment.  Mirage plays kind of similarly, but less physically, obviously, and is also one of my favorites.  (You might also see if Willbender Guardian is in your wheelhouse.) 

Both professions are a bit fragile and have a higher skill floor than most unless you run something like Virtuoso and blast everything with deadly pink daggers of the imagination, which I'm also a huge fan of.  I'm not sure about PVP but neither are a powerhouse in WvW for what it's worth.  Both get similar levels of hate in competitive modes because nobody knows how to play against them, apparently.

In PVE, I personally find it easier to solo on mesmer using Mirage or Virtuoso than thief, especially with Virtuoso recently getting extra distortion, but Daredevil can be pretty survivable while still doing damage via non-stop dodges.

Edited October 10, 2022 by Gwynnion.7364

[Crymsyn.5037]

Sorry for slow reply yesterday was grocery day and my nerves needed a rest. As I said not big on pvp back in wow and swtor I would do battlegrounds and whatever swtor's was called but never competitively just for something new to do. I admit I liked how Virtuoso sounded (I always did like psychic/Psionic/Chi type classes)...I was curious how does Mirage play similarly? I admit to knowing little about most elite spec's daredevil only caught my eye for the Martial Arts theme to it. I have little experience with Rogue's/Thieves.

 

Here's a better question between Thief and Mesmer which would be easier to level as? I will be leveling 1-80 so I suppose finding one that's a bit easier for someone returning to get up to those spec's. I was originally considering Revenant but the way trait's and skills were handled with them seemed a bit strange compared to other's.

[nopoet.2960]

1 hour ago, Crymsyn.5037 said:

Here's a better question between Thief and Mesmer which would be easier to level as? I will be leveling 1-80 so I suppose finding one that's a bit easier for someone returning to get up to those spec's. I was originally considering Revenant but the way trait's and skills were handled with them seemed a bit strange compared to other's.

1.  Why not both?

 

To your question...Winning with a Mesmer makes me feel smart.  Winning with a thief makes me feel superior.  Which feeling do you enjoy more?

[SlayerXX.7138]

5 hours ago, Crymsyn.5037 said:

Here's a better question between Thief and Mesmer which would be easier to level as?

Well nothing gonna stop your from leveling, so the better questions is which class is faster. Thief is faster, double pistol just pulverized level content.

You have to keep in mind Daredevil and Virtuoso are both elite Specs you can only unlock at level 80, so you won't level with them. Same with Specter, Deadeye, Mirage and Chronomancer.

But at this point I would just try thief out, equip a double pistol and press the 3 button. If you get bored by the fact that your best Weapon skill is the thing you press all the time, pick Mesmer.

[Crymsyn.5037]

On an unrelated question when did they add getting a raptor at level 10? I must of been away longer than I thought that and the adventure guide were a shock....i ended up going thief as it felt better to me gameplay wise. How is dagger\dagger and sword\dagger to pair with my other set which will be ranged?

Edited October 12, 2022 by Crymsyn.5037
Chose class asking for advice on weapons.

[Xukavi.4320]

On 10/11/2022 at 9:45 PM, Crymsyn.5037 said:

On an unrelated question when did they add getting a raptor at level 10? I must of been away longer than I thought that and the adventure guide were a shock....i ended up going thief as it felt better to me gameplay wise. How is dagger\dagger and sword\dagger to pair with my other set which will be ranged?

Raptor at level 10 and the adventure guide were added with the steam release near the end of August.

Dagger/dagger is pretty good while leveling. You'll mostly be using skill 5 to stealth and reposition to to the back of enemies for backstab from stealth. Then use skill 2 when the enemy is at 50% hp or lower to finish them off.

Sword is honesty not in the best place for PvE, however is still quite good in PvP/WvW in some builds. It's issue is that its mostly a defensive weapon for the Thief. Sword skills 2 is a shadowstep to your target and can be reactivated to go back to where you teleporter from removing conditions. Sword/dagger skill 3 is is an evade + attack that removes boons from your target which most enemies while leveling from 1-80 won't have much of. Sword/pistol skill 3 is a daze+ flurry of strikes, timed right it can interupt enemies attacks in PvE/PvP.

Shortbow is decent for ranged AoE and great for mobility. Pistol/Pistol is really good for ranged single target though you'll mostly be spamming Unload (skill 3).

On 10/11/2022 at 11:55 AM, Crymsyn.5037 said:

I was curious how does Mirage play similarly? I admit to knowing little about most elite spec's daredevil only caught my eye for the Martial Arts theme to it. I have little experience with Rogue's/Thieves.

Mirage is kind of like what you would get if you crossed Mesmer and Thief. They're focused a lot on mobility and attacks that move you around your target through shadowsteps. They also gain access to Ambush skills after dodging which are similar to Thief's stealth atracks (they change your skill 1 to a special Ambush attack unique to each weapon). Admittidely I have limited exprience on Mesmers but that's how I feel abour them so far from what I've played.

[Gwynnion.7364]

32 minutes ago, Xukavi.4320 said:

Mirage is kind of like what you would get if you crossed Mesmer and Thief. They're focused a lot on mobility and attacks that move you around your target through shadowsteps. They also gain access to Ambush skills after dodging which are similar to Thief's stealth atracks (they change your skill 1 to a special Ambush attack unique to each weapon). Admittidely I have limited exprience on Mesmers but that's how I feel abour them so far from what I've played.

I used to run a stealth-based Mirage build using Chaos and Illusions mostly for the heck of it.  It probably wasn't useful for anything outside of open world but it was definitely fun and very mage-thief-esque, dropping aggro and buffing yourself before reentering difficult fights.  "Oh, yeah, well now I have aegis!"

[Ruisenior.6342]

     Take care some people here are missuninforming.

  Daredevil is completly trash on solo pve content, only good on clearing trash. If you aim to solo pve you should target deadeye with riffle or condi specter. If you want to play with a friend specter is a good duo class. On pvp Daredevil is one of the best classes on roaming and decaping. I can't tell on wvw since i dont play it.  Like someone stated above dual pistol thief is probably the easiest/faster class to level up

   Mesmers have plenty of builds that can deal solo bosses/bounties with ease (some require high skill like phatasm chronomancer others not like dual staff mirage), but they are mediocre against groups/packs of mobs, i can't tell about virtuoso cause i only play it on pvp but it should work ok for this pourpose cause mainhand dagger deals aoe damage, its bladesongs are also aoe and rain of swords is a good aoe utility skill. On pvp mesmers are okish at roaming/decaping +1 but not that good dueling, almost all of its builds rely on a burst of damage that experienced players will read without any problem and they haven't good sustain/heals.

    Also if you are going to play alone almost all the time and want a reliable pve spec, you can try ranger. It's probably the best noobfirendly class (managing properly the pets they will soak alot of damage for you). On my first character i used core condi ranger till the end of living world season 4, managing to solo almost everything including alot of pof bounties and every hot hero point with ease, i laughed alot seeing people come when i was soloing a bounty they will eventually die go to the nearest tp and come again to die again on the bounty 🤣.

   And don't forget to create a sylvari!! you won't regret it specially when Hot kicks in!!

Edited October 15, 2022 by Ruisenior.6342

[SlayerXX.7138]

On 10/15/2022 at 4:26 AM, Ruisenior.6342 said:

Daredevil is completly trash on solo pve content, only good on clearing trash. If you aim to solo pve you should target deadeye with riffle or condi specter.

Slow down there buddy. Dude asked for a solo build, not Soloing Bountys. Daredevil is great for most normal solo content, like events and story. Fractal build recommend it to have on standby for its great cleave. Also if you aim to solo bountys or similar you are better of with Deatheye Pistol/dagger Condi then Power rifle.

On 10/15/2022 at 4:26 AM, Ruisenior.6342 said:

On pvp mesmers are okish at roaming/decaping +1 but not that good dueling, almost all of its builds rely on a burst of damage that experienced players will read without any problem and they haven't good sustain/heals.

Last time I checked Mesmer are to slow for real roaming. They are also rather good at dueling. Or at least they think they re judging by the number of Mesmer who are running it down far.

On 10/15/2022 at 4:26 AM, Ruisenior.6342 said:

Take care some people here are missuninforming.

Funny.